


A Funeral for a Man

by AnneLaurant



Category: W.I.T.C.H.
Genre: Canon - Comics, Canon Compliant, Dealing With Loss, F/M, Funeral, Grief, Hurt and comfort, Mourning, dealing with death, wake - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 02:49:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20649971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnneLaurant/pseuds/AnneLaurant
Summary: Isn't it unfair how he never even had one? Orube deals with Cedric's death, along with what he unintentionally left behind.Alters the ending of 5th saga a liiiittle bit.





	A Funeral for a Man

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ange (marichii/potatorie)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Ange+%28marichii%2Fpotatorie%29).

Finally, finally... peace returned to the bookshop. The guardians and Matt received a ring each in commemoration of their victorious battle against Ludmoore and the elemental guards.

Matt was a little shaken, understandably. He'd received offers for meditation in the halls of Kandrakar, which he declined. He didn't need more interaction with unfamiliar magical forces, thank you!

And Will, triumphant that she passed all those challenges, returned to Earth jumping in joy. The other girls joined her, save for one.

"And after this, I can finally focus on the preparations for Mom and Dean's wedding!" she announced.

"Yeah..." muttered the one girl who didn't share the enthusiasm. This girl was Orube, who, in triumphing over her challenges, lost something, _someone_ very important.

And at that moment, the guardians' chattering devolved to an awkward silence.

In Orube’s hand was the deadly Book of Elements, now dormant and free of strong magic, sealed by the elemental stones, and in the other hand were the keys to the bookshop - Cedric's bookshop.

Just like that. He was gone, and the teen girls did feel a bit of emptiness in them. Cedric was a strong, almost respectable foe, if not for his annoying attitude towards them.

"...are you going to hold a funeral?" asked Hay Lin in the gentlest voice she could muster, approaching Orube with a warm hand.

Orube accepted the gesture. Her lips quivered, undoubtedly fighting back sorrow. "...I don't have a portrait of him."

Ah. Of course. How could she offer flowers and such when there was no gravestone? The other girls whispered to each other. Who's going to bring this and that? Where will they hold the funeral? Matt cleared his throat to announce his presence, and Will had to leave and walk him home.

Hay Lin then offered to Orube, "I could draw a picture of him. And then we're gonna go somewhere you want to put offerings in or something? Do you wanna do that here? Or in Basiliade? Or…?"

"Thank you." Orube held the mementos of Cedric tighter to her chest. "But I wish to be alone for now."

She slipped away from Hay Lin's sympathetic hand and went inside the bookstore. The other guardians shared looks and walked away, but they were sure that Orube wanted to grieve privately. But at the least, they could help her make some sort of shrine to offer incense to.

.o0o0o.

Orube locked the door behind her and observed the place. It smelled of dust and old books - of course. This was a bookstore, a library, a reading place. Ye Olde Bookshop, Cedric's sanctuary.

And somehow, even if a sanctuary should never feel suffocating or desparate, this place made her feel that way.

She placed the Book of Elements on a table and approached Cedric's desk. She sniffed it, but only very faint traces of his smell remained. Of course - he'd been downstairs in the basement for days, next to her. Her fingers traced every crook and cranny, and she looked inside the drawers. Nothing significant, but of course. He'd never want to hide something important in a place so vulnerable.

She did find a pen he liked to use. Pen. With ink. Like his sorrowful state. It wasn't even a corpse.

She left to investigate his living quarters, which she'd never been allowed to enter. Nothing too important either. It was a place filled with his bare necessities, a kitchen to prepare food and tea, a couch to read books, more shelves with books, some tables and drawers with books, a small bathroom, a small closet, and a small bed. She sniffed around. It didn't seem like the place was used extensively. Not even the bed smelled of him, and the clothes in the closet were nothing significant.

But she found a tunic. It smelled of him. It was the robe he wore in the Tower of Mists, no doubt, the design, the texture, and the faint traces of Kandrakar's magic still lingering. This wasn't anything special to her, though.

Orube then found a different door leading to the backyard. It had a burnt spot in the middle. She didn't know what it had been for, but this place was getting too cold, and she was only prolonging the agony before the inevitable.

The basement.

Her trembling fingers glided around the cold doorknob. Silence. Lifelessness. Time.

She turned her head away. _Not yet._

But when she turned her head away, Orube noticed a little cup next to the luxurious peacock statuette. That cup... could it be?

_"It's revolting!"_

_"That's what I thought too, the first and only time I drank it!"_

_"Pfft… gahaha... ahahaha!"_

She sniffed the air. The strong smell of coffee usually lasted for so long, and yet this was supposed to have happened weeks ago, was it not?

But yes... that was it. That was the strong odor of Italian cappuccino, coming from that cup.

Her eyes then travelled to the door, next to which Cedric's coat hang.

_"Ladies first! The only thing I appreciate with humans is when they have good manners!”_

_"Hah! The humans from which century are you speaking of?"_

_“Wisely said!”_

Gentlemanly as he was, the lunch he treated her to that day was by no means extraordinary, but they shared sentiments that it was decent. And they didn't understand why so many people claim of the cuisine's superiority.

Orube shook her head. Those were only things of the past.

She finally opened the door to the basement and descended.

Step.

By step.

By step.

The brick walls were in blue, like Cedric’s favorite color.

Step.

By step.

By step.

His smell was overwhelming here, compared to his scent upstairs. He surely spent a lot of his valued time under her watch... when he could've done something else.

Step.

It was just trickery, her mind said.

By step.

It was because she was special to him, her heart said.

By step.

But as expected, he was not there. Not even closing her eyes and opening them again brought change. Of course. The dead would never rise again.

_"Romance novels, Cedric! Your bookstore has a lot of surprises! Do you believe in first love? Have you ever thought of relationships?"_

_"Bah. The human idea of love disgusts me. I'd rather read a dictionary!"_

No, not even the power of love, as the humans spoke, could bring him back to her. Those were just the movies. Those were just the novels.

Orube took a deep breath. Mind over matter. The power of meditation and concentration should triumph over personal conflicts.

Alright. Enough.

She began to work on the books. They might be for sale, but they were still his. She did not have authority to burn them, as they too were for the public...

_"Hello! Do you have a book on Heatherfield geography?"_

_"I-I... ah... um... ahem! Excuse me? What did you say?"_

But she still respected them.

She remembered each and every book she borrowed. Sometimes, she even messed them around to hide them from the others. She didn’t know if Cedric even noticed, but knowing how he sometimes gazed at her without turning his head, she had a feeling he did.

She ran her fingers through every book she took and arranged. Their keeper was a very diligent man. Despite being the works of the humans he so hated, he respected these tomes too. They were in good condition, and not a single page was visibly torn or folded.

In her heart, she wished one of them was different. Maybe he left something for her. Maybe he placed a secret letter for her, or maybe even any piece of literary writing pertaining to her.

She did not find any.

It took her all night, but neither fatigue nor drowsiness came. In fact, moving about the place only energized her.

It was still dark when she started gathering the clothes and other personal belongings – the likes of shoes, towels, mugs, and so on. You were supposed to burn them, not give them away, or keep them. Their user would never use them, but would also never allow them to be given away.

She took his sweaters. They were so soft in her hands. She sniffed them. _Ugh._ They might smell strongly of Cedric, but they were not warm! And how sorrowful was the fact that she never held him in her own arms properly!

No, no, no. Enough. Enough was enough.

She dumped them onto the basement, along with the Book of Elements. This place was for last.

She then began to clean around the bookstore and the living quarters. If someone found this place and decided to keep it, they should arrive to seeing it clean and neat. But, the purpose of cleaning the entire house was to wash the memories and grievances of the dead away from the place they once called home, for the living realm was no longer theirs.

She scrubbed grime, swept dust, wiped everything clean.

It was morning when she finished. And yet, she still did not feel fatigue.

She retrieved Cedric's personal belongings, and with a bit of difficulty, started a fire in his backyard. _Goodbye, goodbye_, she thought, and forced all could-have’s, would-have’s, and should-have’s out of her mind. Death was inevitable in her line of duty. Casualties would have to happen for the greater good. Warriors were always ready to offer up their hearts and bodies, and should always be ready for any sort of loss.

When everything was nothing but soot, she returned to the basement. She stared at the chess set she forgot to burn. She stared at the damaged wall that she didn’t bother fix. She stared at the glamorous armchair that she left standing there, exactly on purpose.

_"Some people go up, and some people go down!"_

_"I’d say you were almost worried about me!"_

_"You’ll understand that when you don’t feel so alone!" "I-I'm fine being alone..."_

Memories poured in. Something stuck itself in her throat. A heavy weight burdened her chest.

This was his home. This was a place where he was alive.

_"I don’t even remember where I come from, and yet you remembered every last sunbeam of Basiliade! Maybe it was just what I was looking for! I fooled myself, believing I could also warm myself in that sunlight you fondly speak of!"_

Surrounded by the last few proofs of his existence, she dropped to her knees and cried. Like her favored romance novels said, home didn't have to be a place, but a person.

And he was gone.

.o0o0o.

The day for the funeral came.

To be exact, a funeral in its strict meaning wouldn’t happen. There was, after all, no body to view or cremate. It was more of a memorial.

Even so, the man concerned didn’t receive any sort of formal service, not even a wake, or any sort of recognition from the Triumvirate. Then again, when they saw Orube’s face, they kept silent and turned away from her.

But it was time. And now Cedric was getting some sort of ritual, no matter how small.

With a bit of encouragement from Taranee, Orube eventually decided on a day, and on the same day, she was to vacate Villa Rudolph.

"Are you sure you wanna go home?" Irma asked. "You're always welcome to stay!"

"I've decided," Orube stated, her voice firm, "Besides, I need to find myself, and Heatherfield..." She sighed. "Heatherfield has too many memories."

On an arm was a bag of her own bare necessities - her robes and her books - and on the other was the Book of Elements. Will held the keys, the responsibility of two houses now in her hands.

"We'll keep your house clean," promised the Keeper. "Besides, it's a pretty big place, and we like hanging out there."

"Thank you."

Will wasn't sure about the bookshop. It was a commercial property, and she was sure Heatherfield's needy students would want it functional as soon as possible. It might even be seized by the local government.

"What about your university friends?" Cornelia reminded, "Did you say goodbye to them yet?"

"About that..." Orube reached into her bag and produced a letter, "Could you kindly give this to them?"

Cornelia took it and read, _'To Mister Korter, the Journalism Club, and Heatherfield News_'. She nodded; she'll have to go to the university with Peter in tow later.

Will opened a portal to Kandrakar. "You ready?"

Orube nodded.

The five girls went through, and once again, white and green and engravings met their eyes.

It was a rather solemn time in Kandrakar, and the Triumvirate welcomed them with sad smiles of condolences. To be honest, they would've rather celebrated. But out of respect to one of their most loyal students, no party was held. Instead, it was a service for the one person she favored among others, a funeral for the love she had for so small a piece of time.

The smell of incense filled everyone's noses. Orube followed the path towards where it was strongest, and she found herself in a meditation hall filled with water and pink lilies.

A path lead to the middle of the room to a wider platform, onto where a small altar was set. More flowers adorned it, and next to it were incense sticks... and in the middle was a beautifully-painted portrait of Cedric. Next to it was a memorial tablet bearing his name, and Orube’s in red – the symbol of a loved one who died prematurely in their relationship. Hay Lin was already there, tidying the place up.

According to Basiliadean customs, they should've worn black. So did the five guardians, but their sixth member wore white. It was symbolism - the dead wore white; a part of Orube died too and deserved some mourning. Kandrakar didn't partake in the fashionable practice, but they at least kept themselves quiet and almost still.

Hay Lin noticed her friends and greeted them. She also gave Orube a hug, hoping it could bring some comfort. The younger girls brought their offerings to the altar – books, a knitted sweater, some tea, all for burning later when Orube gets home – while Orube lit another incense, swung the three sticks in air, and offered money for transportation fees to the afterlife.

And after that, the girls sat and stared at the altar altogether in silence. The guardians reminisced their adventures in their minds.

"He was a formidable foe," started Irma, "He gave us one big heck of a time."

"He was smart, and I hate it," added Will, "And he always had something up his sleeve, down to the last moment."

"He was mean," said Cornelia, "And he hurt a lot of people, including my best friend, and my ex-boyfriend."

"He's pretty vain and selfish!" Hay Lin complained, "For a man who looks that good, he's got such a horrible attitude!"

"And yet, somehow, you managed to reach his heart, Orube." Taranee took her friend's hands. "He had a ridiculously soft spot for you, didn't he?"

Orube nodded. That was true. Cedric was a terrible person to most others, but for her, he was rather civil, even goofy and peculiar at times. Of course, she realized it was affection too late.

"...and I love him too."

No matter how soft her voice was, it had been the loudest statement out of all the words the girls uttered.

"He made me feel like I belonged somewhere, even if he too didn't belong in Heatherfield. He never judged me. He showed me a thing I'd have never known, and I don't think anyone else could replace him. I... I love him."

Orube took a deep sigh.

"I wish we could've talked more. I wish I could hear him again. And, I wish I could hug him properly, even just once."

Orube began to whimper and sob, and her friends offered her a big warm hug.

Then, a light filtered in.

The girls gasped. The light came from above the altar, and everything just shone brighter and brighter...

Then Orube found herself in a place filled with light. It was white all around, leaving her confused about where her friends went.

"_Orube..._"

That voice was familiar. Too familiar! It couldn't be, could it?

Slowly, she turned around. A man in white stood before her, his golden hair fluttering about. He shouldn't... _she couldn't have been... he..._

"Orube," Cedric uttered once again, and Orube ran to his arms. How warm and overwhelming and soothing this feeling was! She held onto him as tight as she can, and he reciprocated, caressing her hair and her back and her shoulder. How warm… how warm and beautiful… how warm and precious…

"Don't go," she begged, "Please don't go..."

"I must. I have to. I caused more trouble than necessary."

"Please stay..."

"I can't."

Orube sobbed all the more in his arms. Of course. The dead would never, ever come back to life, and they must part ways. Still, great sorrow and pain made her cling to him. Just this once, she would allow herself to act like this.

“I need you. Please.”

"This is my final goodbye, Orube."

"Please don't leave..."

"I will always be in your heart. I'll make that place my home, so we'll never be able to part from each other."

"But I need you! I need you with me." And she wanted to hold him, to hug him, to kiss him, and enjoy life all the more with him, whether it be in Heatherfield, Basiliade, or Meridian.

But he only kissed her forehead. He trailed kisses to her temple, down to her cheek, and then...

"I will always, always be with you, whether you need me or not. You won't ever get rid of me."

"Only you can make me feel so strong and invincible and safe."

"And I will be there with you in heart, mind, and soul. Call to me, and I will help you feel that way again. Call to me and I will come, no matter what."

"Cedric, I love you."

Cedric smiled. It was a beautiful smile like no other, and his eyes shone brightly. It was sweeter and gentler than the one he showed her in his final living moments.

"I love you too, Orube."

And finally, their lips were sealed in the sweetest kiss.

"Cedric..."

"Orube..."

He gave her one more kiss, and she hugged him tighter. However, it became more and more apparent it was time to part.

"Goodbye, Orube."

"Goodbye, my love."

"My love... you shower me with such gentle words I do not deserve." He chuckled and kissed her again. "Don't get too reckless now, okay?”

Orube nodded. “I will keep you with me. Forever. In my heart, in my memories, in everything that I do.”

“My dearest Orube. My love.”

“My love…”

Then the bright light around them shone brighter and brighter...

Then he was gone. For real, this time.

Orube was back in the meditation hall, her eyes still filled with tears, but tears of joy. Love enveloping her heart once more, Orube wiped her tears and found her friends with their eyes shut.

"I'm done crying now," she stated, and her friends opened her eyes. They shared another hug.

That day, Orube left with her bag, the Book of Elements, and the whole ensemble of the altar. Basiliade welcomed her with open arms and not closed fists this time, and she was glad to be with her father again for the first time in so many years. Having recovered love in her heart, she gave him a warm hug, gave him thanks for the career he inspired in her. She gave her mother a hug too and asked for some gnuzal for dinner.

Of course, her parents asked what she had brought with her. She answered that it was a memento of her adventures, but for now, she wanted to rest from guardian duties and think about what she should do in the future. After dinner, she arranged the altar again, burned the offerings, and lit another incense as she prayed for Cedric's soul before bedtime.

That would be the last thing the guardians would know of Orube in a long time.

And of course, as for the young girls, they attended the Vandom-Collins wedding in peace, knowing their friend was more or less at peace too. Susan threw the bouquet, and somehow, the girls saw Cedric take it… but it was only a lookalike with glasses and a smaller ponytail. Will and her friends just shrugged it off.

Though, sometimes, of course, they'd think of his dearest Orube. They'd wonder what she'd do; fondly recall their memories of her.

And, of course, Hay Lin draws her sometimes to remember her by. Of course, of course, the little sketches of Orube always held hands with little sketches of Cedric.

As things should be.

**Author's Note:**

> It feels fun to do a more canon-compliant story after a long while.
> 
> Anyway, some customs and practiced as mentioned above are real-world practices by Japanese people, some altered to fit the story and/or the characters better.


End file.
